Mistake
by kira66
Summary: Was Scully's death meant to be or did something happen to change the course of fate?
1. Chapter 1

Dana watched as the breeze gently blew through the grass, making it sway to an unseen rhythm. Her hair danced across her face causing several tendrils to hang in her face until the next breeze blew them back into place. She raised her head and let the sun caress her face like an old friend. The blue of her eyes matched the cloudless, perfect sky. The green of her sun dress matched the flawless grass. Everything was perfect and comfortable. Everything made sense and nothing out of the ordinary happened. A ghost of a smile betrayed her thoughts as did the far away look in her eyes. She was thinking about _him _again. Always thinking about _him_.

Him being Fox Mulder. Her partner in more ways than she could count. He was her best friend, partner, lover and lastly husband of six months. Her eyes, unconsciously, went the simple diamond ring on her finger. It didn't mean anything here but to her it would always mean love and devotion. Six months she had been married to him. She was happy then. Unlike now. Sure she was content and pain didn't exist but she wasn't happy. She felt empty like her soul was incomplete. But there was nothing she could do about it.

At first she didn't understand. One minute she was being held in Mulder's arms being screamed at to hold on until the paramedics arrived and next she didn't know where she was. She had expected to wake up in a hospital with Mulder asleep at her bedside, holding her hand. But there was no Mulder here. Instead it was her father that she saw first when she 'woke up'. That's when her mind went into overdrive trying to figure out where _here_ was. A part of her knew where _here_ was but that part kept quiet as she surveyed her situation. She came up empty on explanations.

Her father had been quiet as well, regarding her with such warmth and love but also with underlying sadness. He took in her appearance and noted how much she looked like her mother. He had so much to say to her. So much to ask but he stayed quiet, letting her have time to adjust.

"Ahab?" It felt weird for her to be saying that name again. And suddenly she was at a loss. That part of her that knew what was going on and had stayed quiet was beginning to surface.

"Yes, Starbuck. It's me." He smiled at her and brushed a stray strain of red hair from her face. "It's good to see you again but I had hoped our reunion wouldn't be so soon."

His words weren't direct but they confirmed her fears. "No..." She whispered as she choked back a sob and flung herself into her fathers arms. "This must be a dream. A really horrible dream and I'll wake up." She mumbled into his neck as she clung to him.

"Dana, this is not a dream. There is no waking up from this." He explained to her rational mind and hoped that it listened. He held her tightly as she sobbed. "You were shot, sweety." He mumbled into her hair. "You didn't make it out of surgery" He pulled back and brushed his fingers along her brow where the bullet had entered and lodged. "I'm so sorry."

She couldn't stop crying or shaking. She knew what shock felt like and also knew that she was going into it. Her whole body shook with such force that she had passed out in her fathers arms. Only to be awakened later by her sister. That was when she finally grasped what had happened. There was no reason for her to argue that it wasn't real or that someone was messing with her mind because her heart knew that it was true. She was dead. She had been shot and died in surgery.

Another breeze brought her out of her musings and she scuffed at the ground with her barefoot. She was lonely, though she wouldn't admit that to her father or sister. Some things just never changed. She still felt the urge to be independent and didn't need help from anyone. She had turned them down when they wanted to help her to let go. To grieve over the life that she lost so that she could move on and be as happy and as content as they were. But she didn't want to grieve and she didn't want to move on. All those things meant that she would have to let Mulder go. She couldn't do that.

Again she scuffed at the ground and turned her eyes back to the sky. Today she had gotten her first chance, since dying, to watch over Mulder. To see how he was doing without her. What she saw wasn't what she expected. She expected to see him mourning for her, grieving over her death and burying himself in work. Instead she saw him with a group of friends at a party. A group of friends that he didn't have when she was alive. He was drinking, laughing and having a good time like she had never existed. It had hurt her instead of reassuring her. She felt even lonelier and more helpless than before. But there was nothing she could do about it. He was obviously not the person she thought he was. This time she was brought out of her thoughts by a gentle hand on her shoulder so she brought her gaze from the sky to her sister. "What?"

Melissa Scully wasn't stupid and she knew her sister was hurting. It had surprised her to learn that Dana had married Fox. She hadn't checked in with her sister since Emily's death and that was only because she was reaching out for her. "It's been awhile, Dana." She lead her sister over to a soft grassy hill and sat down with her. "Time doesn't exist here so what you consider a day here might be a month, a year or even a century down on Earth. But in your case...three years have passed since you left."

"You mean since I died." She snapped. "I didn't leave, Missy. This wasn't by choice. I was taken away from my life and dumped here." Tears were welling up in her eyes again but she wiped them away before they could fall. "But when I looked at him...he seemed to happy."

"And you're not?" It was more of a statement than a question. Melissa knew her sister was restless and unhappy. She also knew that Dana had been labeled a lost soul and wasn't fully able to accept the peace that heaven brought. "He isn't happy, Dana." She shook her head. "He puts on that act for his VCS buddies because he doesn't want them to report him to Doctor Fuller. But when he goes home...the act disappears."

"Doctor Fuller..." She mumbled knowing that the woman was one of the FBI's in-house shrinks. "Act or not...it still hurts, Missy. I was married to him for six months and partnered with him for six years and I never saw him laugh so much." She shook her head and looked down at her hands. "I never saw him that happy before."

"He's mourned you, Dana. He's mourned you and trying to move on with his life. He gave up the X-Files and transferred to VCS. He's popular there. People like him."

"I miss him." She whispers, quietly. This time when she looks at her sister, the tears are freely falling. "I would rather be in hell than have to suffer through heaven without him. At least in hell, I'd be able to feel the pain I need to feel right now."

Melissa's eyes widened at her sisters words and she pulled her into an embrace. "Don't say that, Dana. Don't ever say that. You earned your place here." She stroked her sisters hair and rocked her. "Go see him." She whispered before breaking the embrace and leaving her sister to think.

She cried for what seemed like forever until she heard her sisters words. She could go see him. She knew how to do that. But could see really go and not break any of the rules? Were there any rules? She tilted her head to the side and smiled. She would go see him.


	2. Chapter 2

Dana appeared inside the apartment and looked around. The lights were off so Mulder, obviously, wasn't home yet. A glance at the mantle clock said that it was a little after midnight. She took a few minutes to just breath in the familiar scent of her husband and to look around. Her bare feet made no sound on the floor as she moved around. She let her fingers glide over the pictures that lined the bookshelf, opposite the fireplace. It was a variety of pictures. Some taken before they got to together, others were marriage pictures. One picture caught her eye and she picked it up. It was taken the day she died.

Feeling light headed, she moved over to the sofa and sat down. The picture was still in her hand. Memories of that day invaded her mind and she had to close her eyes. The date was July 7, 1999. It had been a boringly normal case. Nothing abnormal about it. She had been called in as an consultant to the local coroner and Mulder was asked to do the profile. His profile lead them to the guy. There was about twenty-five policemen around the building but the perp still managed to slip past them. They gave chase and somehow got separated. Mulder ended up on the fire escape while she was left on the street. He came out of nowhere and drug her into an alley. She didn't leave quietly or without a fight and could hear Mulder descending the fire escape ladder. Then she felt his breath on her neck as he whispered the last words she'd ever hear "I don't want to kill you but you leave me no choice." He pressed her against the wall, pulled his gun, pressed it to the corner of right eye brow and pulled the trigger. Everything after that was fuzzy but she could remember Mulder telling her to hang on before the coldness over took her and she was gone. Shivering, she dropped the picture to the floor and it shattered just as the key was turning in the door lock.

* * *

Mulder wasn't drunk but, at the same time, he wasn't sober. He had been invited to a party by one of his buddies and had accepted. Anything to make him forget about _her. _He drank, laughed and partied like a frat boy. It didn't feel right and he didn't want to be there but he had to act normal. He didn't want to see that damn shrink again and have her tell him that he needed to move on with his life and let his wife go. He flung open his door just in time to hear something smash. "Hello?" He called out as he withdrew with service revolver and stepped inside. He flipped the nearest light switch on and looked around. All was quiet. He flung the gun onto the small table behind the sofa, along with keys. Then he noticed the picture on the floor. His feet crunched the little shards of glass that had been launched away from the picture frame. He looked around once again, trying to figure out how the picture got from the bookshelf to in front of the sofa. It couldn't have fallen, to far. He picked it up and pulled the picture out of the frame and tossed the ruined frame into the waste paper basket beside the soda. Then he sunk into the sofa, looking at the picture, tracing her face with his finger. "Why did you leave me?" 

"I didn't leave you, Mulder." She snapped and appeared , on the sofa, again, after having disappeared when the door opened.

He looked up and blinked before jumping to his feet and rubbing his eyes. "I must be drunker than I thought." He mumbled and eyed the person on his couch. "Now I'm seeing things."

She raised her eyebrow and smiled. "Seeing things? My, you have changed. I thought you believed in ghosts?"

"I do." He found himself saying then stopped. "But I don't believe in talking to myself and your not real." He looked at the picture again and then to the sofa, expecting her to be gone but she wasn't.

"You're not talking to yourself, Mulder. You're talking to me." She stood and walked over to him, placing her hand on his leather jacket clad arm.

He jumped feeling the weight of her hand on his arm. He even yelped. "I...uh...You're dead." He stated the obvious then placed his hand over hers. She felt cold but real.

"I know I am, Mulder. No need to remind me." She frowned and pulled away from his touch, crossing her arms over her simple white, lose, dress clad chest. She couldn't help but think about him partying. "I see that you have a good time tonight." She mumbled after the few moments of silence.

"Wha...you saw me at Gideon's party? How?" He still hadn't moved from where he stood but he did shrug off his jacket and toss it over a nearby chair.

"Of course I did. The first time I get to check up on you and what do I see? I see you partying!" Her chest was heaving in anger but she couldn't help it. She could feel all her emotions here unlike in heaven where they were dulled and numbed.

He was confused and his head was pounding so with a groan he sat back down on the sofa. "He was my friend." He shrugged. "He asked me to go so I did." It felt natural for him to explain and even smiled at her sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, Mulder." She sighed and sat down beside him, tucking her legs up under her. "It just hurt seeing you so...carefree and laughing. Like I never existed."

He eyed her and turned on the sofa, mimicking her position. "So there really is life after death?" He asked, offhandedly then cleared his throat.

"Yes. I can personally say that there is life after death. But not much of a life. Everything is too perfect. Too normal. It's like a never ending dream that I'm stuck in. The sky is always blue. The grass is always green." She smiled, sadly.

He reached a hand over and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Too normal? I think I rubbed off on you, Scully." He mumbled, getting lost in her blue orbs. "I can't believe you're sitting here with me. It's been three years, why didn't you come sooner?"

She shrugged. "I wasn't allowed. I still hadn't accepted my fate and I still haven't. But I guess they realized that I was never going to accept it. My dad and Melissa tried time and time again to get me to let you go. But I couldn't. I can't. You have no idea what it's like _there_. To be stuck there for eternity knowing that you can't ever leave."

"There? Where is there?" He was curious and awed at the same time. But his mind was still telling him that he was drunk enough to be seeing hallucinations.

"Heaven." She waved her hand towards the ceiling. "Or whatever you want to call it. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I'd take life any day."

He was at a loss for words. Here he was talking to his wife who was a ghost about heaven. Something he didn't even believe in. "So what now? You leave again? Leave me alone to suffer through life when I'd take death any day? I don't know what to do with myself anymore. I hear the guys talking about their wives and families and can't help but feel envious. I mention you and they go quiet and it gets awkward. Your mother hasn't talked to me since the funeral and Bill makes it a point to call me every few weeks to remind what a loser I am. What do I have left here? I'll tell you what. Nothing. I'm nothing without you."

Scully listened to him with sadness. So he did hurt as bad as her maybe even more. She smiled and slid over to him, wrapping her arms around his body. It felt good to hold him. "I love you so much that it hurts."

He wrapped his arms around her smaller frame and just let her hold him. He buried his nose in her hair and took in her scent. She smelled like flowers. "I love you too." He mumbled and kissed her forehead where he replaced his lips with his own forehead. They stayed like that for hours, unaware that they were being watched from above.


	3. Chapter 3

William and Melissa watched the scene before them. They now understood the pain that Dana was in. Her status as lost soul was correct and she would never be happy. Not without her soul mate. She had been one of the lucky ones when it came to love. She had found her soul mate. But it wasn't fair that she had been taken away from his love. They both knew the truth about Dana's death. It had been an accident. She wasn't supposed to die but something went wrong. She had died in Jonathan Green's, the man that had shot her, place. She had a future ahead of her. One that was predetermined by fate. But now her life was in chaos because something went wrong. It was time that things be set right. It was time that she had the life that she was so ruthlessly denied. So with wide smiles, the two Scully's began to rewrite the past so that the future would continue.

* * *

**July 7, 1999**

**Somewhere in New York City, New York**

It had been a boringly normal case. Nothing abnormal about it. Scully had been called in as an consultant to the local coroner since the victim was high priority and also the Mayors daughter, and Mulder was asked to do the profile. His profile lead them to the guy. There was about twenty-five policemen around the building but the perp still managed to slip past them. They gave chase and somehow got separated.

Scully was out of breath as she looked around the wet street. Her feet hurt from running and she was wet. To make matters worse, Mulder was nowhere to be seen. "Great." She mumbled as she raised her run and proceeded down the street and passed a dark alley.

Mulder made his way up the fire escape ladder for a better look at the street below not realizing that Scully wasn't with him any longer.

Just as she reached the alley, she felt herself being grabbed from behind. She automatically went into fight mode and kicked at her attacker. He managed to get her gun away from her and she got out a few good screams before he drug her into the darkness of the alley.

A scream made him realize that Scully wasn't with him and just as quickly as he climbed the ladder, he had descended it. His gun was raised as he rushed into the alley but it was dark and he couldn't see.

She felt his breath on her neck as he whispered "I don't want to kill you but you leave me no choice." Jonathan Green pressed her against the wall and pressed the gun to the corner of right eye brow and pulled the trigger but it jammed. She saw her chance and brought her knee up, connecting with his groin. He stumbled backward in surprised pain.

Mulder saw movement and rushed towards it. Jonathan Green was stumbling away from Scully but he had a gun. Without a second thought, Mulder raised his own gun, took aim, and fired. His shot was good and Green went down. He rushed forward just in time to catch Scully as she crumpled as well. He fumbled at her coat, checking for injuries. When he pulled his hand out of her coat it was sticky and wet. "Oh shit. Scully can you hear me?" He pulled out his cell phone, dialed 911 and reported their location. After he hung up, his attention turned back to Scully. "You gotta hang on, Dana. Do you hear me? The paramedics are on their way. Just hang on!" He kept saying over and over again.

* * *

Scully felt the feeling of deja-vu when her eyes fluttered open. She was staring at a bright light. Turning her head, she smiled. Mulder was staring at her with his big beautiful hazel eyes and a smile that was forty watts. "Hey." She mumbled. 

Fox Mulder was the happiest man alive when Dana looked at him. She's awake! He wanted to scream but instead gave her a forty watt smile. "Hey." He held up a glass of water for her to drink from then settled back in the chair and held her hand, tightly. "Green got off a good shot before I took him out." He motioned towards her stomach which was heavily bandaged.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I would have never guessed." She gave her husbands hand a squeeze. "Pain medicine...working wonders." She muttered before her eyes drifted shut. "I love you." Was her last words before she fell back asleep.

He squeezed her hand back. "I love you too." He whispered since she had already fallen asleep. Mulder laid his head down on the edge of her bed and followed his wife into the land of dreams, content in knowing that she was alive and going to be ok.

* * *

"Well Dad. Looks like it worked." Melissa Scully said to her father as they walked through the perfectly green field. The sky looked a little bluer to her but she didn't say anything and stayed quiet. She was happy for her little sister. And content in knowing that everything was right with the world once again. 


End file.
